Case registered against Assam refinery for burying wild elephant
The female elephant was electrocuted in a park adjoining Numaligarh Refinery’s township on July 18
The adult female elephant was electrocuted after coming in contact with an exposed armour cable in a park adjoining the township of Numaligarh Refinery Limited. File.
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar
GUWAHATI:
The Assam Forest Department has registered a case against a public sector refinery in central Assam’s Golaghat district after its employees buried the carcass of a wild elephant without information.
The adult female elephant was electrocuted after coming in contact with an exposed armour cable in a park adjoining the township of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) on July 18 (Thursday) morning.
Located about 20 km from the southern edge of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, the refinery has often been at the centre of human-elephant conflict as its township.
“The elephant was found dead in the park around 8 a.m. on Thursday but the refinery authorities informed us in the evening after the animal’s carcass was buried. This is a serious blunder as the elephant is a Schedule 1 species and we registered a case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972,” Golaghat’s Divisional Forest Officer, Sushil K. Thakuria said.
He said the elephant could have been electrocuted but that was no reason for the township people to bury it without informing the Forest Department first.
Officials of the department exhumed the carcass on July 19 and carried out a post-mortem after registering the case. The autopsy report is expected by Tuesday.
“The cause of death is subject to investigation but the elephant could have stepped on the armour cable laid on the ground and got electrocuted. There is also a possibility that there was a leakage in the cable. We cannot say anything with certainty at this moment,” Mr. Thakuria said.
Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden, K.S.P.V. Pavan Kumar said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had stated that action would be initiated as per the provisions of the law about the protection of wildlife.
Golaghat-based environmental activist, Apurba Ballav Goswami attributed the elephant’s death to the “irresponsibility” of the NRL. “They are aware that the township adjoins the habitat of elephants that often enter the township. They should have been careful with the electric cables that they laid themselves,” he said.
He demanded the arrest of the officials for the “crime” committed by trying to “cover-up” the death of an elephant.
Madhuchanda Adhikari, spokesperson of NRL, denied any bid to hide the “unfortunate” incident.
“Some of our staff feared the consequences of the elephant’s death as a herd was not far away. They decided it was safer to bury the animal before informing the Forest Department,” she said.
“The department is investigating the matter and we will abide by the report they submit,” Ms. Adhikari told The Hindu.
A product of the Assam Accord of 1985, the NRL ran into a controversy after constructing a 2.2 km wall in 2014 through an elephant corridor of the Deopahar Reserve Forest. The wall was erected to protect the expanded township and a golf course.
In August 2016, the National Green Tribunal ordered the refinery to pull down the wall and asked it to pay ₹25 lakh to the Forest Department for destroying a forest and a hill to build the golf course. The tribunal also asked the NRL to undertake compensatory afforestation 10 times the number of trees felled during the expansion work.
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